Thursday, June 26, 2008

Wildfire Update



The wildfire has spread and has consumed about 2500 acres, mostly Salt Cedar (Tamarisk.) That is the problem with this invasive tree--it gets in river beds and causes all kinds of problems. The winds keep shifting, making it difficult to control. They've evacuated 100 people, voluntarily, and they are staying in a Red Cross shelter. Most of the evacuees are from the Gila Indian Reservation.


We can't see the flames behind the mountains. They had many firefighters in the area and they are using slurry planes with fire retardants, but that didn't work, so now they are getting water for the helicopter drops from the Gila river. I don't think they will have to use water from our lake. We are lucky that the wind has blown the smoke away from this area, but even so, it hangs in the air all over the Phoenix Metro area.




Ending on a good note----Vincas are loving the heat!

1 comment:

Claude said...

Our fire season should be starting in about a month... (last year, which was very dry, it started in may) it's very nerve racking sometimes. Interesting from a distance, but not so great when you're within about 50 miles... fortunately you have a mountain range between you and it...